Argentina names 31-man World Cup Squad

Argentine Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has taken a modern approach by selecting a 17-14 split of forwards and backs to take to the Rugby World Cup which gets underway on September 19.

Following yesterday’s international against South Africa Hourcade was not present for the post match media conference. Instead he was taking care of last minute business, or specifically was talking to the players to let them know who had made the squad and who had missed out.

The official announcement came this morning, local time, from the Hotel Intercontinental in Buenos Aires. The selected players are a combination of seasoned campaigners who have years of experience in foreign leagues and fresh faces whom have been blooded by Hourcade over the past 22 months.

Hourcade took over from Santiago Phelan who resigned after a poor Rugby Championship campaign in 2013 which was surrounded by controversy including a player revolt. Damage control saw Hourcade restoring order in the November 2013 European tour before installing his true coaching regime the following June and excluding regulars under Phelan.

Among those excluded were Patricio Albacete, Julio Farías Cabello, Manuel Carizza, Santiago Fernández, Eusebio Guiñazú and Gonzalo Tiesi. An uproar followed but Hourcade calmed the storm by delivering onfield results including victories over Australia, France and South Africa. The wins came without all of these players.

Experience
Hourcade’s revolutionary changes also included a differing game plan as width was added to the traditional solid scrum. It required mobile back-row and second-row forwards and improved finishers outwide.

Old heads were essential to unravel the game plan which saw Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamón being leaders of the pack but doing so under the captaincy of Agustín Creevy. The trio have been joined by a maturing Leonardo Senatore and Marcos Ayerza to give Los Pumas plenty of experience to build a scrum around.

Hourcade also left his mark by moving Juan Martín Hernández into a play-making position. He had been fullback under Phelan in 2013 but Hourcade used him to great effect as an inside center in combination with Nicolás Sánchez who remained at fly half. Marcelo Bosch joined Hernández in the mid-field to give Argentina a balanced defensive line and an offensive arrangement which asked more of the defenses of Rugby Championship opponents.

Youth
Phelan’s squad which went to Rugby World Cup 2011 was aged. Mario Ledesma, Julio Farías Cabello, Felipe Contepomi, Rodrigo Roncero and Martín Scelzo were all retained from the 2007 campaign but were not the same force. Hourcade’s changes have seen few similar instances for this year’s World Cup.

The old guard has been cleared with great effect. So much so that despite no wing or fullback scoring a try under Phelan in the 2013 Rugby Championship four did so in the 2014 tournament. Hourcade put faith in Juan Imhoff, Manuel Montero and Joaquín Tuculet in the back-three and they delivered.

Montero’s World Cup Dream fell short this year after his season came to a premature end via injury. In his place Hourcade gave Santiago Cordero game time on both wings and at fullback and the outcome was a dangerous counter-attacking player to add to the attacking arsenal for the World Cup.

Albacete and Carizza made way for Tomás Lavanini, Matías Alemanno and Guido Petti who join Mariano Galarza who, at 28, is easily the eldest second-rower going to play in England and Wales.

Unlucky
Facundo Isa, Pablo Matera and Javier Ortega Desio are also young players blooded by Hourcade traveling to the World Cup. Their inclusion sees no place for Benjamín Macome whose place had appeared certain just a few weeks ago.

Just as unlucky to have missed out is 21 year old Tomás Lezana who played well against South Africa yesterday as was also the case in Durban on the previous Saturday. Like Carizza he played very well when given the chance but has missed out by a hair.

Another close call sees Santiago Iglesias Valdez left out of the squad with Julián Montoya instead to travel as the reserve hooker to captain Creevy. Hourcade’s option of taking two rather than three hookers is the prime reason behind the decision.

Circumstances rather than performances or overall talent have seen Hourcade opting for Horacio Agulla over Gonzalo Camacho. The former was used as a winger in the Rugby Championship but was unable to threaten the opposition unlike Imhoff, Cordero and Camacho. Uncertainty over Camacho’s fitness, though, has seen Agulla included with Tuculet and Lucas González Amorosino being fullbacks who can also cover wing.

Agulla has made it as a winger despite having played outside center in the past and, arguably having played better. Hourcade has opted for Bosch to be covered by Matías Moroni while Jerónimo De la Fuente is back-up to Hernández at 12. Both Santiago González Iglesias and Juan Pablo Socino have also been picked as players covering fly half and inside center and are likely to start one or more pool matches, possibly against Namibia, to rest Sánchez and Hernández.

Player	Position	Age	Club
Agustín Creevy	Hooker	30	UAR
Julián Montoya	Hooker	21	UAR
Marcos Ayerza	Loosehead Prop	32	Leicester
Lucas Noguera Paz	Loosehead Prop	22	UAR
Matías Díaz	Tighthead Prop	22	UAR
Ramiro Herrera	Tighthead Prop	26	UAR
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	Tighthead Prop	25	UAR
Matías Alemanno	Second-row	23	UAR
Mariano Galarza	Second-row	28	Gloucester
Tomás Lavanini	Second-row	22	UAR
Guito Petti Pagadizábal	Second-row	20	UAR
Facundo Isa	Back-row	21	UAR
Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe	Back-row	33	Toulon
Juan Manuel Leguizamón	Back-row	32	Unattached
Pablo Matera	Back-row	22	UAR
Javier Ortega Desio	Back-row	25	UAR
Leonardo Senatore	Back-row	31	Unattached
Tomás Cubelli	Scumhalf	26	UAR
Martín Landajo	Scrumhalf	27	UAR
Santiago González Iglesias	Fly half	27	UAR
Nicolás Sánchez	Fly half	26	UAR
Jerónimo De la Fuente	Inside Center	24	UAR
Juan Martín Hernández	Inside Center	33	Unattached
Juan Pablo Socino	Inside Center	27	Newcastle
Marcelo Bosch	Outside Center	31	Saracens
Matías Moroni	Outside Center	24	UAR
Horacio Agulla	Wing	30	Bath
Santiago Cordero	Wing	21	UAR
Juan Imhoff	Wing	27	Racing 92
Lucas González Amorosino	Fullback	29	Unattached
Joaquín Tuculet	Fullback	26	UAR